Who knew Revenge could be so hard?
by Secret Vesper
Summary: Crimmson Flynn's adopted father never liked Peter Pan. When he dies, Crimmson plots her revenge against Peter. To bring him down, she starts on a journey to befriend him. But she never expected him to be like this. R&R I own nothing, but Crimmson and plot
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Let me make this straight from the beginning; I don't know who my parents are, well sort of. I had an adopted father, but he was killed. But that is not important right now. I am here to tell you about my time with Peter Pan. Yes, I know the great Peter Pan; of course I do, because I live in Never Land. Maybe I should start over again.

I met Peter last year and it was quite by accident. You see I was walking through the forest collecting fruit and such for lunch when an arrow flew just past my ear. I looked up and saw a small skunk tail in a tree from the direction the arrow had come from. I quietly sat down the fruit and pulled out my bow, which I always have with me.

After fitting a string and the mysterious arrow, I fired and the arrow stuck in the tree just about the skunks head. It jumped and I laughed, but not for long. I soon found myself surrounded by small boys who were all dressed in animal skins. Every boy had a bow and a quiver of arrows, along with a dagger strapped to their side.

Part of my bangs fell forward into my eyes, which were tucked up under a hat, along with the rest of my long jet-black hair. I kept my eyes on as many as I could at the same time. Suddenly the skunk-boy jumped forward, his hands were fast as he grabbed for his dagger and rushed for an opening on my right side. I quickly sidestepped and the boy ran into the tree behind me. The boy yelled and all of them jumped for me.

I was caught in a whirlwind of daggers, knives and shouts as every boy tried to get a hold of me. My soft worn tan boots kept my footholds like a trusty friend as I twisted and turned to face each of my attackers. All of the sudden I felt a sharp pain in my ear. On of the boys had grabbed hold of my earring and pulled. I put my hand to it and felt the blood on my fingers.

Now I am slightly ashamed of this, my temper got the best of me. I whirled around to stab the boy, but I found someone had grabbed a hold of my hand. I flipped my hand over and the boy landed on his back. I stood over the boy; this one was in a rabbit skin. He looked at me with large eyes that had so much fear in it that you would have had to be blind not to see it.

"Y-You can't kill m-me. It's m-mean." The boy stuttered badly as I held the dagger over his neck. The others just watched their friend babble for his life. I smirked.

"All is fair in love and war," I raised my dagger, but paused for a moment. I felt another pair of eyes watching me. I looked up and saw another boy in the trees. He was different; he wore green, not skins. I looked closer and saw that he wasn't actually in the trees; he was flying, floating above them. I smiled, I knew the boy; he looked just like Father had said.

While I was distracted, the rabbit boy got up and tried to sneak away. Unfortunately he knocked my hat off while leaving. A mass of thick wavy black hair tumbled out and over my face. I sighed and tried to blow my bangs out of my eyes.

"Wait, stop!" I heard a voice shout. It was him, the boy in green. I watched through my bangs as he floated down and landed in front of me.

"Hello Peter," my voice was even and cool.

"It's a girl! How do you know me?"

I smiled, I wasn't about to give myself away and ruin everything I had trained for. I looked up, and looked at him slightly and ducked my head again.

"Everyone knows of the great Peter Pan and his Lost Boys." I could tell he was pleased, it was all I could do to keep myself from cracking up laughing right then. I felt him bend down next to my ear.

"Do you know any stories? The last girl that was here knew lots of stories and told them to us."

"Perhaps, but why would I tell you? The boys who attacked me and their leader?" I looked up at him with large eyes and got up gracefully. Peter laughed and flew into the air as he did.

"My boys attacked you? When I came in, you were standing over Nibs about to kill him." His eyes were laughing.

"Well, a girl's got to protect herself." I brushed my bangs out of my eyes again. "Besides, I was merely protecting myself after I was brutally attacked."

"Is this true? Who attacked first?"

The skunk boy came forward, looking slightly ashamed of himself. "I did Peter. I am sorry, I didn't know who it was." He stuttered slightly. Peter had a cold look in his eyes as he gripped an arrow that had fallen. The skunk boy pulled the neck of his shirt down.

"I understand Peter, strike true." It took me a moment before I realized what Peter Pan was going to do. Then I was horrified.

"Stop!" I exclaimed as Peter raised the arrow, all the boys looked at me. "I mean there was no harm done, other than me losing my lunch and someone pulling on my earring. Besides, you kept me on my toes, I haven't been able to get as much exercise as I liked." I patted one that looked to be only 5 years old. "I thank you, and now I'll be on my way."

I picked up my hat, dropped weapons and the fruit I could salvage and started off again.

"Wait!" I knew at once it was Peter. I turned slowly and looked at him straight in the eye. "Would you like to stay with us? I mean, life was pretty good with Wendy here, but she left. Would you like to be our new mother?"

I pondered for a moment, trying to find the best way to answer.

"I shall come home with you, but you cannot call me mother," the boys cheered, "but if I don't like it I will leave and there is nothing you can do about it."

The boys nodded in agreement and crowded around me.

I have never felt like a mother hen until then. I hope to never do so again.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I was blindfolded and led to their house. I have never felt so vulnerable in my life. Maybe I should explain, I am sixteen years old and look like a normal sixteen year old with all the normal sixteen-year-old things… let's not go any further into that. I was wearing light cotton breeches in light blue, a very loose, very thin white poets top and tall light brown suede boots that came up to my knees.

Maybe you can understand now, I was walking through the forest blindfolded. There are a lot of branches and large leaves that you have to maneuver around. At least I'm hoping it was tree branches hitting me and not those little boys.

They pushed me down into a hole, which I soon found out was a tree and their home. Peter flew down from above and floated above the table. "Welcome Mother!" He called towards me. I raised my eyebrows and popped my hip out in annoyance.

"Excuse me? I thought I made it very clear when I said that I am NOT your mother." I saw Peter blush slightly as the Lost Boys giggles. The little one I had almost killed, Nibs was it? Spoke up.

"Then what are we to call you?" I had to admit, now that he wasn't attacking me, he was kinda cute, in that little boy-ish way. I thought for a second. Sure they had heard of me, if not they would soon from the mermaids. Crimmson wasn't a safe name to use.

"Call me Flynn," I said, quite sure they would never hear my middle name.

"Of course Miss Flynn!" Peter pulled an extravagant bow that was also somehow mocking, if that makes sense. I never like to let anyone have the last word, so I curtsied low to him and smiled.

I had won that round; I could see that Peter was upset that I had out witted him. Oh well, he would get used to it.

I stayed for dinner and then they led me back to where we had met so I could go home. They still had me blindfolded. When I asked why, I was told that they had heard from the mermaids that some trouble would be coming their way. I smiled secretly and pulled the blindfold off to give back to them, but that had disappeared into the forest.

I was on my way to my goal of revenge.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I boarded my ship. It was small compared to my fathers, but it had been a gift from him and I loved it with all my heart.

I sat in my office and sharpened my sword and daggers. Lilith came in flying in her usual reckless fury.

She landed on my desk and I could tell she was quite angry.

"What is it now?" I ask exasperated. Lilith could get into more trouble than I could get her out of.

She started to talk. To anyone else she would have sounded like bells. Not the soft tinkling ones, a bit lower and soulful. Lilith was my fairy, but she was a fairy of darkness. This meant she wasn't always liked in the fairy community, but she was quite useful. She brought the night and the stars every night, but was chased away into hiding every dawn.

She had been teased this time. No matter what I told her, the other fairy's teasing always got to her. She was also infamous for her temper, just like I am. She had attacked one of the other fairies, a light fairy, if I heard her correctly, which I always do.

"Lil, you can't let them always tease you. Tell this light fairy that without you she would be out of a job." Lilith sighed and started to calm down a bit.

Now that she wasn't moving so much I could get a good look at her. She was normal fairy sized with skin as pale as the moon. Her hair was short midnight black and she always wore it in high pigtails that gave her a devilish look. Her bangs constantly fell into her light grey eyes. Her wings were black with small white dots that looked like stars. She wore a short back dress that came off the shoulder and had a jagged edge. It also had some dark blue and purple ribbons around the waist that fell all over her skirt.

"Now, Lil, you're going to come with me to meet some people tomorrow. A fairy lives with them, do you promise to be nice?" I asked placing my sword aside. Lilith spoke as she brushed out her hair and fixed her dress.

_I will if the other one will._ Lil sniffed.

I chuckled softly to myself and stood. I pulled off my hat and laid it on the trunk at the foot of my bed. I then sat in front of the mirror and began to brush my hair. I looked at myself in the mirror and studied my profile.

I was tall and athletic. My skin was tanned and unblemished. I had icy blue eyes that pierced through people, like I was looking into their very soul. My hair was long, thick, curly and dark as the Jolly Roger pirate flag. I had thin arched eyebrows that made it look like I was always mocking you. My nose was pulled up slightly, so I had a bit of a snobbish air and I had high, defined cheekbones. My lips where softy and pulled up into a slightly mocking smiled that went beautifully with my eyebrows.

I undressed and splashed some cold water over my body. My nightgown was soft white cotton that fell gracefully over my slender frame.

I was just about to go to bed when there was a knock at the door. I sighed and pulled on my dark red robe over my nightgown.

"Come in," I called as I finished tying the ribbon around my waist. The door opened and Smee scuttled in.

"Miss," He nodded his head and I motioned for him to speak. "Forgive me, I had no idea ye were about to sleep." I smiled and motioned for him to tell me why he had stopped me from going to bed.

"It's the mermaids, Miss," Smee spoke haltingly. "They wish to have a word with ye."

I sighed again, "Thank you, Mr. Smee. If you will please tell them I will be with them in a moment, once I am decent."

Smee nodded and quickly scuttled out of my cabin, closing the door behind him. I smiled, he had been afraid of my father, and was therefore afraid of me.

_Are you actually going to speak to the mermaids?_ I heard Lilith chime.

"Yes, I am," I spoke as I pulled on a pair of very nice black breeches and a white shirt.

_Why?_

I smiled to myself as I pulled my hair into a horsetail with a red ribbon. "Because, if I tell the mermaids I am here, then the mermaids will tell Peter and he, being the curious little imp he is, will come looking for me."

_Oh, good idea_. I turned and smiled as I clipped on my sword and daggers to my belt that was over my long red coat. I bowed to Lilith with a sweep of my large red hat with a feather sticking out of the top.

"Thank you."

--

I stepped out on deck and my small crew saluted me. I nodded to them and headed to the bow of the ship. There, three beautiful mermaids floated leisurely in the waves. At my approach, they straightened and looked me in the eye.

"Good evening ladies." I spoke courtly; making sure the brim of my hat covered my face so they couldn't recognize me.

_Good evening Captain._ It was the middle blonde one who spoke, sort of. _I am called Teacher and lead my pupils._

I bowed to the blonde; this must be serious if they were sending their head mermaid to meet me.

"An honor to meet you Teacher, I have heard much about you." my voice was full of awe as I spoke to give them a sense of security.

_Thank you,_ Teacher spoke, and I could feel her approval from my manners.

"And to whom may I request this lovely surprise?"

_We have come to investigate,_ Teacher spoke seriously. _The mermaids know all of the coming and goings of the people of Never Land. This ship has been here for a very long time, but you have just began to live on it, why?"_

I smiled, "I was living on another ship until recently, with my father, who died rather suddenly three years ago."

_Really? Who was your father?_

I knew the question would come up. "Captain James Hook, I am his daughter, Crimmson Hook."

I could feel the mermaid's anticipation, but was it good or bad?

_Have you taken over your fathers hunt for Peter Pan?_

I thought for a moment, if they told Peter I was going to kill him, then he might stay away and I would loose my chance.

"My doings are my own business, not yours, nor Peter Pans."

I felt the other two mermaids stiffen slightly, but not Teacher, she took my answer solemnly.

_You are correct; you have been generous enough to tell us what you have. Thank you for your time Captain Crimmson Hook._

"You are most welcome; I hope you have a lovely night and safe travels to your home." Teacher and the other two nodded to me and dove into the waves. I watched the V's from their fins through the water until they disappeared.

"Mr. Smee?"

"Yes Cap'n?"

"Tell the crew to prepare to sail, we must get away from here. Down the coast, about 40 leagues I would say."

"Aye Cap'n"

"You shall be in charge. I shall have a busy day tomorrow and am going to bed."

"Aye, Good night Cap'n."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I slept soundly, happy that the great Peter Pan would soon hear of the new threat to him. The new Captain Hook, the one that would destroy him. Lil woke me up near noon and I just smiled as I watched her carefully choose her outfit for the day that she would meet Tinker Bell. This would be most interesting.

I pulled on a pair of light brown breeches with a green shirt. My boots had been polished during the night and I smiled at the white ribbon Smee had left out for me to tie my braid off with. He was like the grandfather I never had, always leaving little gifts and thinking of things that I would have never have thought of. It was nearing one before I got to the clearing that we had agreed to meet in. I sat under a tree and pulled out some thread that I began knotting into a bracelet.

It wasn't long before an acorn hit my head. I looked up and smiled at Nibs, who was sitting right above her.

"Good morning Nibs," I greeted as he climbed down.

"Are you going to tell us any stories today?" He asked landing next to I.

"I guess I could," I said carefully, "but only if you're good." I ruffled his hair. He smiled up at me and blindfolded me before leading me to the tree house.

"Why can't I just see where I'm going?" I said as he took my hand. "My fairy can see where we're going, besides it would be easier to let me just come when I can. You do realize that I'm busy and can't always come at the moment you want me to."

"You'll have to ask Peter about that, he's in charge of revealing the location of the tree house." Nibs started forward. "Maybe your fairy should close its eyes?" he asked carefully.

I smiled and pulled open a small bag of herbs that I always carried around my neck. "Lil, come on, hop in." I felt her settle in and closed the bag just enough so she couldn't get out.

"Ready?" Nibs asked and I nodded. He grabbed my hand again and started to lead me through the forest again.

After I was shoved through a hole in the tree down onto a slide to the inside of the tree house. I pulled off the blindfold and looked around. The Lost Boys had crowded around me and were all trying to get close enough to greet me. I felt a small fist beating at my chest and I quickly pulled my herb bag out. I let a very frazzled and rumpled Lilith out of the bag. She flew up to my eye level shaking her fist and tinkling very angrily.

"Sorry Lil," I said sheepishly, "How was I to know that I would land on you when I got pushed down the slide?"

She huffed and turned her back to me fuming. I cupped my hand under her and pulled her very close to my lips. "Come now, remember why we are here." She looked at me reluctantly and finally tinkled in agreement. I smiled as she flew up to the closest Lost Boy and tugged on his ear.

"Boys, this is my fairy, Lilith." I introduce her to each boy. "Now, where would your fearless leader and his sweet fairy be?"

All of the sudden a streak of light flew in straight towards Lilith. I heard Lilith's low soulful tinkling against a high angry tinkling. I finally got a good look at who was attacking Lilith, Tinker Bell.

"Now hold on, hold on!" I cried pulling them apart. Tinker Bell pulled against my grasp and Lil stared at her with a look of pure hatred. "Why are you fighting, you haven't even been introduced yet." I spoke calmly until Tinker Bell slowly settled down a bit.

"Well, you were right when you said that your fairy was a feisty one." Peter called as he flew lazily down into the tree house. I smiled at him and held Tinker Bell out to him.

"I can control my fairy, please stop her from attacking Lilith again." Peter just laughed and let Tinker Bell fly off again.

"I have news from the mermaids," he said, ignoring my reprimand as if it was nothing. The Lost Boys crowded around him to hear the news and I just sat back in the chair closest to me.

"They say there is a new pirate in the area. They are taking over Captain Hook's crew."

"Really Peter? Who is it?" one of the boys asked.

"It's Captain Crimmson Hook, the _daughter_ of Captain Hook. Imagine a girl leading that stupid group of pirates!" Peter laughed and the others joined him.

"I would watch what you say Peter," I heard myself say, "I have heard some things about this Crimmson Hook. She is said to be a great swordsman and have ears and spies all over Never Land."

Peter just laughed at this. "If she is so great why have I not heard of her before? Besides she can't be that great if her father is Hook."

I tried not to wince at the attack against Hook and just nodded to Peter. "Just a fair warning. Now, how about a story?"

The Lost Boys cried out and crowded around me. I motioned for them to sit as I leaned against one of the tree roots.

"Now, which story? Cinderella? Snow white? Or what about one of the thousand and one tales from Arabian Nights?"

Flightly moved up slightly to look at me better. "Do you know Sleeping Beauty?"

I paused for a second and smiled to myself. "Yes, I do." No matter how tough they try to seem, I will always remember them from this moment. As helpless little kids that wanted to hear the story of Sleeping Beauty.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I spent three hours telling them the story of Sleeping Beauty, adding tons of sword fights, daring rescues and things that seemed impossible to fix, but at the last moment resolved themselves perfectly. The Lost Boys loved it. They would jump around and pretend to be the people in the story. Some how Tootles ended up being Sleeping Beauty. He seemed slightly upset, but didn't want to take away from the other boy's fun. I laughed to myself as they all ran up at the same time to rescue Tootles, only to bang heads and get into bigger fights.

After I watched them fight for a while, Peter suddenly got a "wonderful idea."

"Why do we not go and see this girl who takes up Hook's position?" He called loudly. The Lost Boys immediately cheered together and began to gather their things.

"But Peter!" I said, standing and calling attention to myself. "Why do you not wait to attack?"

The boys looked at me like I was crazy. "No, listen to me Peter." I said calmly and rationally. "Spend today finding the ship, I have heard that it moved from the last place it was. Then tomorrow we can meet and you can see the mermaids if they have any information on Hook. You can attack the day after tomorrow. I think it would be incredibly foolish to attack without knowing anything about your opponent."

It took a while, but in the end, the boys saw it my way. They all took off to find my ship, leaving Lilith and me alone. Even Tinker Bell, as suspicious as she is, didn't stay with us to watch us. After a few minutes, we were sure they wouldn't be coming back soon. Lilith landed on the table and shaped some slightly warm wax into a chair before sitting in it.

"Do you mind telling me why Tinker Bell attacked you as soon as she saw you?" I questioned, knowing that it probably wouldn't be thrilled with the answer. Lilith spoke in her chimes and I listened intently as she explained. Apparently, Lil and Tink had been in quite a few scrapes before. It was Tink who kept fighting Lil because her friend, Iridessa (a light fairy) kept teasing her. Lil is somewhat like myself and was offended, instead of letting Lil fight Iridessa, Tink fought. Now so many things made sense to me. No wonder Lilith was a bit of an outcast with the fairies. Maybe I should speak with Fairy Mary, the teacher about Tink and her friends.

It was quite a few hours before Tootles came back. During that time, I had snooped around the tree house taken mental notes on how their weapons were and where everything was. Tootles smiled at me. I have to say, out of all the Lost Boys, he had to be my favorite. He was loyal, sweet and humble because he was often not there when a large battle took place. I think he would be the only one that I would have trouble killing. But then again, I could always offer him a spot aboard my ship. Which, now that I think of it, still needs a name! That would be my job for this evening, a suitable name for my ship.

--

When we arrived back to my ship, I told Smee to keep the ship moving whenever we could. I didn't want Peter or any of the Lost Boys to find us too soon. After that, Lil went out to see if she could spy the boys before going to do her job. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening mending the boy's clothes, my clothes and sharpening my weapons.

When I was finished I went up on deck to see how we were doing. We were moving at around 2 knots and were now nearing the mermaid's lagoon. I looked into the lagoon and saw the mermaids sunbathing on the rocks. Once they heard us, one of the mermaids slipped into the water and swam towards the ship. Two other mermaids followed the first into the water without splashing at all. Soon, three slick heads appeared above the water.

_Good evening Captain._ One of the mermaids spoke. _How nice it is to see you again._ I nodded to the head mermaid, which I now noticed was the blonde, Teacher.

"Good evening, the same to you ladies, I had not expected to see you so soon." I spoke softly, glad that I had one of my hats on. "Can I help you with anything?"

_Yes, we only wished to speak to you about something we had heard._ Teacher spoke carefully, as if to figure out the best way to word what she had to tell me. _We have heard that someone is looking for you, someone who wishes to cause you harm._

"Thank you for the concern ladies," I inclined my head. "May I inquire who it is that is looking for us?"

_It is Peter Pan and his Lost Boys. They have heard about you from some of the other mermaids. They are hunting down your ship at this very moment. We mermaids try to stay out of the affairs of humans._ Teacher spoke plainly. _Please don't take that as an insult, but we find humans can be very aggressive and temperamental._

I grinned wickedly. "I understand completely, humans are very complex at time."  
Teacher smiled and I saw rows of white, sharp, glinting teeth. _Yes, I am glad that you understand and that you are willing to take out warning with poise._

I nodded to her, "Thank you for the warning, I am happy to know that I have allies looking out for my crew and myself."

Teacher smiled again. _I am glad to be of service, I wish you the best of luck._ I watched as Teacher and her followers turned and dove into the water. My eyes followed the V's from their tail fins until I couldn't see them anymore.

"Cap'in?" Smee came up to me and stood slightly behind me. "Do you still want to keep moving or do you want us to find a place to anchor?"

I nodded and turned, "Find a hidden place to anchor and we'll stay there for the night. I'm retireing to my room for the night; please don't interrupt me unless it is one hundred percent necessary."

"Yes, Cap'in, Good night."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

The next morning I stayed home and kept an eye on my crew. I sat against the mast and sharpened my weapons as the crew hurried around me. I had told them to keep the ship moving so that the Lost Boys wouldn't find us. Actually I was thinking of it, I was trying to figure out a way to get my ship to the other world. It had to be possible, after all Peter Pan was constantly going to the other world and bringing people back. In fact, I remembered father telling me stories of what the world was like when he was young and when he was working as a cabin boy for the a navy.  
Lil came back from a meeting with her mentor. She flopped down on some rope and watched the glint from the sun on my dagger. She looked quite sullen as she sat her bag down next to her. I kept sharpening my dagger and waited for Lil to start talking to me. Soon she started to tell me about her day. The other girls in town had been teasing her again and she had lost her temper. Now her mentor wanted to speak to me.  
I let Lil finish venting to me before nodding and ask when her mentor wanted to speak with me. She chimed back to me and said that two hours after noon was when she would be expecting me. I nodded and moved on to sharpening my boot-knife. After I was done I started to work with the men. Everyone got out their swords and we started fencing across the decks. Lil darted around and soon was trying to take down Smee and then moved on to the boson, Johnny. She was able to quickly push him into a corner and was bouncing around, keeping him stuck there. Her sharpened nails and teeth were as useful as a sword was to her. I grinned as I saw Johnny crouch down and cover his face from Lil.  
Soon, the men started to calm down and lounged around the deck through the hottest part of the afternoon. After a lunch, I left the ship and headed towards the tree that Lil's fairy mentor lived in. It was a small pine sapling that seemed like it would bend easily in the slightest breeze, but it was surprisingly strong. I knelt and touched my head to my hand in the traditional fairy greeting.  
The mentor was an earth fairy and she came out of her house and returned the greeting. She stood on her balcony and smiled at me.  
"Greetings, fair lady, you wished to speak with me?" The fairy nodded and started to speak in a high tinkling voice.  
"Yes, you are Lilith's star friend, Crimmson, am I correct?" I paused for a moment before I remembered what a star friend was. When I remembered that it was a companion that each fairy and human had that was placed in the stars. They would be together for life and they were like two haves of a whole.  
"I am, is she having some problems?" I knelt down and settled in to speak with the fairy mentor.  
"Yes, she seems to be unable to interact decently with the other fairies. The other students seem to always be having problems and she is constantly picking fights with them."  
"Oh dear," I muttered. "Yes, she had told me she has been having problems with some of the other students. She has often told me that the others would pick on her and wouldn't leave her alone." The mentor nodded and looked thoughtfully.  
"I suspected as much, especially one of my girls that is a bit mischievous, but tried to seem like she's innocent. I fear that Lilith is one of the only night fairies that we have and almost all of them are in seclusion because they were misunderstood."  
I nodded, "Yes, I have noticed that Lilith is very different from the other fairies here. But I have no idea what would make her fit in with the other fairies, besides she wouldn't change her personality for anyone." The fairy laughed slightly in her tinkling laugh.  
"You are right; she is very stubborn at times. I was thinking about calling all of the girls in that are having the problems and speak to them about it. It is mostly girls; you know how they can be when they are young."  
I laughed, "Actually, I don't, I was raised with men and boys, I was the only girl at home." This time the mentor laughed with me.  
"Very understandable, sometimes that was probably easier that being raised with tons of girls like I was." I smiled back to her. The fairy was kind and funny, something that Lil defiantly needed in her life with the pirates.  
"Thank you for understanding ma'am, I think that it's really good for Lilith to have a woman figure in her life. It's always difficult being only around men and boys. If your idea of clearing this whole thing up works, it would be very much appreciated." The fairy nodded and smiled.  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"I hope it works, good day Crimmson." I smiled and bid the mentor farewell as I stood and left the grove. It was clear that Lil's mentor wanted to fix her problem as much as I did.  
I walked home slowly, thinking about everything that was going on. If the Lost Boys or Peter ever figured out who I was, my plan would be over. I was in the middle of jungle when I heard some twigs break behind me. I spun quickly with my hand on my sword and faced the way the sound was coming from. Tootles came stumbling out of the brush towards me.  
"Hi Flynn!" He said after catching himself from falling. "How are you?" He plopped himself down at my feet. I knelt and sat next to him.

"Not too bad, how 'bout yourself?"  
"Tired, Peter has had us searching for this ship day and night. It's getting kind of boring for me, I mean, they always find something fun or cool when I'm not with them. It get's kind of old hearing the same stories over and over again and again."  
"I understand how that can be, but because you're not their every time something exciting happens means that you're different than the rest of the boys. That makes you special and that's what I love about you." Tootles blushed slightly and fumbled with his belt.  
"Thanks, that's awfully nice of you." I smiled back at him and stood.  
"Well, I've got to go; Lilith is waiting for me back home. I'll see you later Tootles!" I ruffled his hair and left the clearing.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

I entered my cabin and found Lilith looking over my drawn out plans for Peter Pan. She pointed to part of it and looked up pleadingly. "No, you can't kill Tinker Bell, I won't be known as the person who started a fairy war." I told her, picking up my papers and storing them in a locked cabinet. Now I just had to stick around with Peter and the Lost Boys for a while longer so they would completely trust me… surely that wouldn't take too long, after all they were young boys.

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I entered my cabin; it had been about a month since I had met Peter and the Lost Boys and I was sure that I finally that they completely trusted me. Lil flew up and landed softly on my shoulder. I turned my head and smiled at her, watching her wings flutter in excitement, she knew I was thinking about something.

"I think it is time for me to leave, at least for a short time." I said as I started over towards my chest. I opened it and took out some of my dresses and other clothes. I started to pack a bag with my clothes and anything I would need for overnight. Lil watched me for a while and then flew to the small glass cabinet that was her room. She pulled out a bag and started throwing things into it.

"Oh, Lilith," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. "You're going to be staying here." I watched her stamp her foot in anger and start shouting at how unfair I was being. "Now don't be angry, I need you here to watch everyone on the island and make note of what happens while I'm gone."

Lil stomped her foot again and called me a few choice words which I won't repeat. I sat back and let her finish her rant before speaking again. "Lil, this is a very important job for me. You wouldn't be much help if you were with me. Besides, back on Earth they don't know that fairies exist anymore."

Once I stated that it was a very important job, Lil calmed down and paid attention to what I was saying. She nodded after I had finished and agreed to stay back to keep an eye on everyone. She then went out to find Smee for me and I waited until he entered my cabin. When he arrived, I locked the door and motioned for him to sit across from me.

"Smee, I have decided that I need to leave for a little bit to work on some unfinished business. Will you take over my ship until I return?" I watched him as his mouth fell open at my request.

"But, why?" he stammered when he finally found his voice.

"I will be leaving for a while, and you are the only person who I trust with watching my ship. Now, I don't want anyone else to know that I'm gone, so you and Lil will have to be very careful. If Peter Pan gets a whiff of my departure, then I'm done for. He'll think I ran off in fear of him and we don't want that, do we?" I said, smiling.

"Of course we don't," he responded," but how long will you be gone?"

I sighed and shook my head, "I'm not sure yet, how long will it take for me to find what I need, but it shouldn't be too long. At least, I'm hoping it won't be too long."

Smee nodded in understanding before speaking again. "May I ask what you are looking into?" I shook my head and sighed. It was soon embarrassing to show weakness, but if there was anyone that I could be myself with, it was Smee and Lil.

"I'm going to go look for my birth parents," I said, looking down and blushing slightly. "Father always said that my parents lived on earth, not here in Neverland. I just feel that this is something I need to before Peter Pan dies."

Smee nodded and smiled at me kindly, "I understand, go do what you have to."

I sighed in relief, "I'm glad that you understand why I have to do this." I stood and continued to pack my bag, adding in some breeches and tops along with my hat, sword and dagger. "I'm going to leave tonight, an hour before dawn starts to break. It will be early enough that everyone will still be asleep and it will still be dark enough for me to slip out without being noticed, alright?"

Smee nodded and stood, "Get some sleep before you go and make sure you have everything you need." He said before leaving my cabin for the night.

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I left early in the morning, standing on the deck as Lil twirled around me, covering me in fairy dust. She then handed me a small bag full of fairy dust so I would be able to get home and hopped up onto my shoulder. I received a quick hug and then she backed up and watched me as I slowly rose into the air with my little bag. I directed myself in the direction I had often seen Peter Pan coming from and took off into the night.

As I reached the edge of the sky, I felt resistance, but I kept working against the pressure. Finally it gave and I found myself hurtling across the stars. I put my hands out to steady myself and slowed down until I stopped moving. I flew down and landed on the dark street. I straightened my tunic and brushed off my breeches before finding a bench in a park to wait for the city to wake up.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

The city work up around dawn with all sorts of noises and people on the side walks along with some strange mobile contraption. I walked out of the park and stood on the side walk trying to figure out where to go. There was a sign that said Hyde Park as I exited the park. Four boys walked past me and laughed, saying something about my clothes.

I looked down and then back at the boys, confused, these were some of my nicer clothes. Then I looked at what they and all of the other people around me where wearing. Long pants made out of denim, some of the girls were wearing skirts and dresses that were cut in an immodest length above their knees. Wow, I was making a comment on modesty, me the daughter of Captain Hook, raised by and living with pirates. I watched the people a little while longer until I realized that I wouldn't be taken seriously in these clothes and that they had a different type of currency than gold and silver coins. Perhaps I could find someone who would be able to covert my gold to their currency.

I stood and wandered, looking for a currency exchange. I didn't find one, but a man directed me to a pawn shop when I showed him my coins. I entered, not knowing where else to go. Behind the counter there was a small man dressed in nice pants and dress shirt.

"'ello miss, now what would a young girl be doin' in this 'ere shop?" he asked, his accent strong that sounded a bit like Smee's cockney accent.

"I was told that you buy things for fairly good prices, is that true?" I asked, leaning on the counter across from him.

"Depends on what you're tryin' to sell." He said with a smile, I gave him a sickly sweet smile back and pulled out my velvet pouch filled with my gold and silver.

"Well I'll tell you this, I know exactly how much this is worth, so I better not get ripped off, or else." I moved slightly so he got a glimpse of my dagger.

"Alright, playin' 'ard ball are we," he said with a laugh, "let's see what you got missy." He motioned to my bag and I pulled out some coins and set them on the table between us. I heard him gasp and he carefully lifted one up. "May I?" he asked, motioning to the coin. I nodded and watched him as he bit the coin to make sure it was real. "Well blow me down!" he exclaimed looking at the coins.

We argued on the price for a while, but eventually I took a price where I was sure I wouldn't get ripped off, working him up until he wouldn't go up anymore. I left happy, knowing that I would never see the man again. I left for a small thrift store across the street. There I let the woman working there pick out an outfit for me. I left in a denim skirt with an orange sweater and red scarf that I was able to wear my boots with. I let my hair out of its ribbon like most of the other girls here had and then went in search of some help.

I found a small boarding house for an inexpensive price and the kindly elderly woman who ran it directed me to the library. It took a while to walk there but I eventually found it. I entered the giant front door, where a man in a uniform asked to see my purse. I looked at him before holding my hands up to show him I didn't have one. He looked at me oddly and waved me through. I walked up to the front desk and asked where I would be able to look up my family. The librarian directed me to the genealogy department and I found an elderly man sitting at the desk.

"Excuse me, I was wondering if you would be able to help me," I said, approaching the desk. The man was in a tweed jacket and smelled like tobacco.

"Yes, are you looking for something?" he put his book down and looked at me.

"Yes, I'm trying to look up some family members and the lady at the front desk told me that you would be able to help me." I said while I looked around the room at the all of the books.

"Really?" he said with a smile, "I haven't had anyone young here for quite a while. Now do you have any names or dates?"

I nodded slightly, "I have a last name and one first name, but I'm not sure what time period they would be found in. I think perhaps the mid 1600s would be a good guess from what I've been told."

The man nodded, "Alright, it might take some time, but we'll find them." He stood and came out from behind the desk. "Okay, what are the names?" he asked, looking back at me.

"The last name is Matthew; the first name is Vale-Anne." I said as I followed him through the tall shelves filled with books, new and old. He looked through them and pulled out a few, "This will probably be the best place to start, but it will take quiet a few days to find what you're looking for. Will you be able to come back?"

"Yes, I'm visiting and don't plan to leave until I find what I came to find." I said with a smile, "I'm hoping to trace my family back as far as I can."

The man smiled kindly, "Okay, well, it will take you awhile to get through that book, but if you need any help, I'll be up at my desk." He nodded and turned, going back to his desk and leaving my out of his view in the back of the room at a small study table.

I spent the whole day looking, finding many Matthews for me to start looking into, I had no idea where to go after I had gotten this far. I had no idea that Matthew was such a common last name. I left when I heard a voice come out of no where saying that the library was closing. I closed the book and left it on the table when I looked at the shelf and didn't know where it should go. The man at the desk nodded to me as I came to the front of the room.

"I left the book back there, is that all right? I didn't know where to put it." He smiled and nodded.

"Have you found anything useful?" he asked as he straightened his desk up.

"Just that there were a lot more Matthews than I thought would be, but I have some notes in my bag where I'm staying. I'm going to look at them and bring them in tomorrow. What time does the library open?"

"10:00 in the morning and it closes at 5:00 at night."

"Thank you," I smiled and left the library. I walked the few blocks to the boarding house where the owner, Ms. Smith, had saved me some dinner which I ate up in my room. When I got up there, I got out the letter that my real mother had written for me when she gave me up for adoption along with the journal that my adopted father had left me when he had left. I started leafing through them searching for a clue of who I might be looking for.

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I brought the journal and letter with me when I went to the library the next day. Soon Mr. Ed, the genealogy expert, was looking over them with me and giving suggestions on where we could find information. We spent the next few days looking through the large volumes for any information on my family.

I had been there a week before we found something. I had left to go pick up some lunch for myself and Mr. Ed. I put the Chinese food that he loved so much down in the middle of the table for us to share. He looked up and pushed a book over to me, "I think we've found something." He pointed to a line, half way down the page as he pulled one of the take-out boxes over to him and started to eat the chicken with the chopsticks he found in the bag.

I started to read allowed, "Vale-Anne Murphy, daughter of merchants, born in 1701. Ran away from her home in Dublin Ireland when she was 16 with a boatswain by the name of James Matthew; believed to have been married and had one child by the initials of CFM. Vale-Anne died in childbirth. Both James and the child disappeared after Vale-Anne passed on."

I picked up an eggroll and bit into it, watching the steam come from it. "Do you think it could be her?" I asked, taking another bite.

"I believe so, I've also found this," he pushed his laptop towards me. I still didn't know anything about these computers and laptops, but Mr. Ed didn't think anything of it. It was an old painting of a man and woman; I looked at it closer, studying their faces.

The woman had long beautiful red hair that fell across her back in perfect corkscrew curls that were covered with a short lace veil. Her skin was like porcelain and she was dressed in a white lace gown. The man had dark hair with loose curls that fell over his forehead. He was in a dark suit and was holding the woman's hands through a bundle of roses. The man looked very familiar, like I knew him when he was older or something. At the bottom of the picture was a little caption.

_This painting was found in a one of the Oppidan Houses from Eton College. There was a small inscription on the back saying "James and Vale-Anne M. Matthew O.S, wed January 1718," along with in flowing script, "My dear Annie, hoping you are happy now that you have left, I will see you soon."_

There was a picture of the script and I looked closer at it, I knew that handwriting. Mr. Ed saw my face and pushed Hook's journal towards me. "Oh my gosh, we found them," I said with and grin and looked up.

"And not only that, the O.S. stands for Oppidan Scholar; he went to Eton College on a scholarship."

I couldn't believe it, Hook, my adopted father, was my real father.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

I spent the next week working with Mr. Ed looking up my family. My father had been an orphan, with a scholarship to Eton College. My mother's family was able to be traced back a bit, but not a whole lot. We worked and found as much about my family as possible before I was going to leave.

Mr. Ed and I were just about to leave the library and go for lunch. Mr. Ed had started treating me as a daughter or a granddaughter. He wanted to make sure that I was okay and he was worried that I wouldn't get home okay. But right now he was worrying about getting a good price from the salesman who was meeting us.

Yes, we had found the man who owned the painting. He had also agreed to see us and possibly sell the painting to me. It was the only thing I wanted. I knew who my parents were and I was so close to the painting I couldn't bare to be denied it. I was still using the story that it was my great grand parents and I had been orphaned with some of their letters, but nothing more. This was the only connection I had to my past and I wasn't going to give it up for anything.

We were meeting the man at an old pub that Mr. Ed loved and was well known by the staff there. We were given a small room in the back so we would be able to speak in private. Mr. Ed ordered a pint, and I got a glass of some kind of soft drink that I had taken a liking to. I watched as people came into the pub for lunch breaks. There was an old man with a briefcase who entered. I motioned to Mr. Ed who looked over at him.

"Perhaps that is him," I said nodding to him. I watched him walk across the pub and sit at a table far away from us. Soon, Mr. Ed left me alone for a while and I enjoyed the surroundings of the pub.

"Miss Matthew?" A voice said, "Crimmson Matthew?" I looked up to see the voice was coming from a young man standing before me.

"Yes?" I looked up at him and took in the man before me. "May I help you?"

"Yes, I am Michael Kelly," he stuck out his right hand for me to shake, which I did with a smile. "You contacted me about a piece of art that is in my family's possession?" I nodded and motioned to one of the seats across from me, which he pulled out and sat down.

Now I got a better look at him. He couldn't have been any more than two years older than myself, yes 18 seemed about right. He was tall, just a bit taller than myself, and looked to be very toned and in shape underneath his kakis and polo. He had hair the color of sand and dark grey eyes that looked like the sky just before a storm. His skin had a slight sun-kiss from the sun of the past summer and his smile was kind and gentle. I pushed back some of my curls and smoothed the blue sweater I was wearing.

"Now, you were interested in the painting of James and Vale-Anne Matthew, correct?" He said, as a waitress placed a glass of water before him and took our orders. The waitress left and Michael settled in across from me.

"Yes, I have reason to believe that they are ancestors of mine." I pulled out the letters and the journal and set them in between us. I opened the journal to the page with Hooks signature and showed it to him. "These were left with me when I was left at the orphanage, I haven't been able to track down my parents or any of James or Vale-Anne's children since they both disappeared soon after the portrait was painted."

Michael nodded, "But why did they only leave these for you?" he asked, looking through the letters and such before looking at the signature in the journal.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't have the faintest idea, but this is the only bit of my past that I have." I gathered up the letters once more and tied the frayed dark red ribbon around them before placing them back inside of Hook's journal.

We chatted lightly as we ate and he asked if I would like to go with him to see the picture at his parent's house. I agreed after looking around for Mr. Ed and not being able to find him. We paid the bill, actually Michael insisted and since I was short on cash, I was only to ready to agree. Then we left the restaurant and Michael led me to an underground tunnel. He paid for me to go through the gate and pulled me onto a moving contraption that he called the subway. It stopped a few times before Michael led me off and out into the sunlight before we started down the street to a nice little town house.

"It's not very grand, but I grew up here." He unlocked the front door and motioned me into the front hall. I walked in and smiled at the little homey interior that I had never been used to in growing up. "Mother! Are you home?" Michael called as we entered the parlor. A woman came out of the kitchen, smiling and came to hug Michael.

"Ah, there you are!" Her eyes fell on me and I blushed slightly. "Who is this?" she asked, her eyebrows raised slightly.

"This is Crimmson Matthew, Mother," he introduced me; I smiled and stuck my hand out to shake her hand. "Crimmson, this is my mother, Linda Kelly."

"Hello Mrs. Kelly, it's a pleasure to meet you," I said with a smile as we shook hands.

"Crimmson is the person who contacted us about the painting we have from one of the Oppidan houses, the man and woman, the Matthew's. She has some of their old letters and journals and believes that they are ancestors of hers." Mrs. Kelly nodded and smiled.

"It's still downstairs, unless your father moved it again." She laughed slightly, "I'll make some tea for when you come up." She smiled and bustled off to the kitchen again. Michael smiled and started for the stairs.

"My mother loves to cook, that's probably the reason that she never hired a cook, unless it's for a large dinner party." He said, descending the staircase with me following close behind. "The painting that you want has been in our family for generations. One of my so many great grandfathers went to Eton and found it under a loose floor board that his sweetheart's glass marble rolled down into. It's been in out family ever since, even though we were trying to find out who it was and belonged to for ages."

He stopped before a door, unlocked and opened it, using a key and punching some buttons in on a little box that I had seen around some of the other buildings, before ushering me inside and turning the light on. I gave a small gasp at all the things the room was filled with. _Father would have loved this room._ I thought to myself, eyeing the gold and silver and other antiques. Michael smiled as he watched my eyes fall over everything.

"My family has always been interested in history and we take everything we can get our hands on." He said with a slight laugh. "Come, I believe that it is stored over here with some of the other paintings." He led me through the room, pointing out some things that he thought would interest me. There was old Spanish gold and other valuable jewels behind panes of glass so thick I think that nothing could have broken through it. "This is just a small part of our collection; my father donates many of the things we had or find to museums all over the world." He moved through the small aisles carefully until he came to a large locked chest. He pulled out another key and unlocked this before rummaging through it and producing a small wooden frame.

He handed this to me and I looked down at it. Staring back at me was those icy blue eyes I had seen every day of my life that could go from happy and smiling to serious and upset in a matter of seconds. I ran my fingers lightly over his face and then my mothers in turn. "I can't believe this, I found them." I muttered softly to myself as Michael shut the chest and locked it again.

"Come, let's go back upstairs, Mother probably had tea and all sorts of other little goodies out by now and I am sure she will want to hear all about this." He nodded to the picture in my hand and steered me towards the door. We entered the world above ground again and Michael ushered me into a room at the back of their house filled with plants and with a wall full of windows. Mrs. Kelly was at the table and had just set a pot of tea and a tray of cookies and other little finger food onto the table.

"Ah, just in time my dears," she said with a smiled and motioned for us to sit. I sat the little painting on a table near by, being able to see it from where it was laying. Michael pulled out a chair for me, something I wasn't used to at all, before doing the same for his mother and seating himself. Mrs. Kelly poured tea and we chatted lightly as we ate and drank.

All of the sudden I saw an orange flash and there was a loud crash. We all turned quickly to see the painting on the ground and an orange cat on the table, where the painting had been. I flew out of the chair, with Michael right behind me. I went for the painting and he went after the cat.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone for being patient with me and for all the great comments! I really appreciate all the comments, corrections, suggestions and such. I love hearing from you and what you have to say.

Chapter 10

"Oh dear, Peaches," he picked up the cat and shooed it out of the room. "I'm sorry, Peaches likes to be in the sun." He bent over and helped me carefully pick up the pieces. That's when I noticed the paper stuck to the edge of the frame. I pulled it out and flipped it over, realizing that it was an envelope. I slipped my finger under the seal and opened it, pulling out the letter. The were two pages, one written in my father's flowing script and the other was written in a slightly sloppy hand writing that seemed like it would be pretty, but the person was sick when they wrote it.

"What's that?" Michael had spied my letters and looked over my shoulder at them. I looked at the one in my father's hand writing first.

_My darling daughter,_

_I had a feeling when we left that you would come back to England and find this picture. Forgive me for not telling you sooner about myself and your mother. I hope that you will also find my old journal and your mothers. All of my love and I hope that you forgive me for not telling you everything that I should have or for being the perfect father._

_Love,_

_Father_

I pulled out the other one and looked at that after handing Michael the first one.

_My child,_

_I haven't known you long and I fear that I won't know you much longer or see you become an adult. Your father will be hard on you, but he will work to make sure that you arrive at your potential. I just hope that you don't feel that how harsh he treats you is because of you. I see how hard it is on him to see me so sick and I fear that he will be hard on you or that he won't be the sweet man that I know he is. I hope he stays with you after I leave and won't treat you badly because he sees you in me. He is really a great man and very sweet and kind._

_All my love and best wishes,_

_Mama_

I picked up the painting after giving Michael the other letter. He read them in silence and looked up. "It looks like there is a chance of you actually being their so many great granddaughter. We have been looking for decedents, but all we could turn up was that Vale-Anne died and James disappeared soon after. No death record or anything, certainly not a birth certificate of a child. I wonder why…" he trailed off, giving the letters back to me, which I stored inside Father's journal with Mother's letters. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts and looked back at me with a smile. We all sat back down and Mrs. Kelly got up to take the tea and little refreshments back to the kitchen.

"How much longer are you in town?" Michael asked, smoothing the tablecloth absentmindedly. I smiled and shrugged slightly.

"I'm not sure. I was just going to stay until I found my pa-" I stopped, "umm… James and Vale-Anne. Why?"

"Well,' Michael cleared his throat a bit before continuing. "My parents and I have seats at the theater; would you like to go see a play or something tonight?" I paused and thought about it. Why not after all, I was in the real world, why not take advantage of everything I could while I was here.

"I'd love it, although, I don't know if I have anything suitable to wear, I've never been to the theater before."

"You haven't? Well, that's good; then you won't know how horrible I am at them." He laughed at his own joke and I smiled. "I'm sure what ever you wear will be perfect, you seem like the person who would look beautiful in anything."

I blushed slightly. I had never considered myself beautiful, especially since I had been raised around men and boys who didn't care about looks. My thoughts were whirling that I looked up quickly when I heard Michael speak again.

"I'll pick you up around five and we can go out to dinner. I know a great little place by the theater. Where are you staying?" I told him the address of the little place I was staying at for the current moment. Michael wrote it down and promised to see me at five as he ushered me to the front door.

"I will see you at five my lady." He said and gave a small bow. Unlike the one that Peter had given me when we first met, this one was playful, but sincere and not meant as a mocking gesture like Peter's. I smiled and left as Michael closed the door. I kept my composure until I reached the subway station and felt my smile grow as I boarded one of the trains.

When I got back to my room, I dropped my bag off and locked Father's journal in one of the cabinets. I grabbed my purse and made sure that I had some money with me for the night. I left my room and headed down the street to the second hand shop where the lady who ran it and I were starting to get along wonderfully. I opened the door and walked in as the bells jingled.

"Hey," she said, from the back where she was folding shirts. She came up to the front of the store and smiled. "I didn't expect you back here so soon, what do you need?" She asked as she put some of the shirts away.

"I've been invited to a play tonight and I don't know what to wear. Would you have anything?" I asked looking at the lady, who was in her mid to late 30's. She laughed and motioned me to follow her.

"Got a hot date?" she teased and I blushed, causing her to laugh again. "I was just kidding, but I guess I was right. Is he cute?" I nodded and smiled to her as she showed me a rack with nicer clothes on."Well, let's make sure that guy falls head over heels for you."

There were skirts and dress pants and tops and dresses and everything that a girl could imagine that I tried on. The lady was very careful with what I bought and made sure I had everything from an outfit to accessories to making sure that my jacket matched. Thank God she liked my suede jacket. I ended up buying a navy blue dress that I was told accented my eyes and looked good on my figure. The lady also picked out some silver jewelry that I could wear with it.

I left the store in good spirits, with some new clothes and jewelry that the lady said I found for me. She wished me luck with my date as I left the store. I'm not really sure if you could call it a date, I mean, Michael and I didn't even really know each other and I didn't even know if he liked me. I didn't even know if I liked him.

I got back to my room and set out my stuff. The landlady heard me come in and saw my bag. "Where are you going tonight?" She asked as she spotted me in my dress coming from the bathroom.

"A friend invited me to a play," I said with a smile. The landlady was a bit of a busy body, but she was also very grandmotherly and wanted to make sure that everything was fine with all of her tenants.

"Well, you're not going like that are you?" She asked, looking a little smug. I stuttered slightly, I still didn't know all of their customs; perhaps I had done something wrong.

"Well, I thought it would be fine to go in this-" I started only to be cut off by the landlady.

"No my dear, the dress looks wonderful. But don't you have any cosmetics or hair products?" I shook my head and she smiled, told me to stay right where I was and ran off to get something.

"Here we go, they've only been used once, my daughter used them for Halloween one year. They've been unused since." She placed a pink bag on the table in my room and made me sit on the bed. "Are you meeting a boy?" she said with a knowing smile.

"Yes, the man who had the picture of my ancestors invited me to go. Well, actually, it was his son." I said with a smile.

"Well, let's make sure that you're all dolled up for him and he falls head over heels for you then." She said, smiling and she pulled out an icy blue pencil and instructed me to close my eyes. She put something on my eyelids, on my cheeks and then something light on my lips. Then she started to play with my hair. I sat there with a smile as she exclaimed over how long and thick it was. She ended up just taming some of the curls and pulling a strand back with a sparkling piece. Finally I was allowed to see myself in the mirror. I gasped slightly, I guess that you could call me pretty and the cosmetics certainly did bring out my blue eyes.

It was completely different, being pampered and treated like a girl. I enjoyed it, sort of, it was something different and after being raised with men, it was nice to be treated like a girl. It was nearing five o'clock when I heard a knock at the front door. I looked out the window and saw the top of Michael's head. The landlady had opened the door and was now calling up to me that he was here. I grabbed my purse, pulled on my jacket and started down the stairs.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Michael was standing at the bottom of the stairs as I came down them. His eyes widened when the fell on me. I don't know why, but it made my heart flutter slightly and I smiled. He smiled back and held his arm out for me to take. The landlady waved and smiled as we got into the car that Michael had brought and drove away. I still was confused with all of the technology that they had and listened politely as Michael talked about his car. He parked about a block away and helped me out of the car before we walked the rest of the way to the theatre.

"I hope that you like what we're going to see, especially if you've never been to the theatre before." He said, taking my arm in his and escorting me into the theatre. It was large and beautiful when I walked in with lovely architecture and paintings. There were so many people in the theatre that I just followed Michael, pretty much helplessly, to our seats and waited for the show to start.

The curtain came up on an old house in London with three children in it. They were the Darling Children and the play was about them. I thought it was very cute, until, one night a boy flew into their bedroom and took the children away to a magical place. It was, of course, Peter Pan. He was the hero of the story, and ended up killing Captain Hook. At the curtain call, everyone stood to applaud the performers. I stopped clapping as the actor playing Peter Pan came out, but applauded loudly for Captain Hook and Tootles. Michael looked over at me with his eyebrows raised, but didn't say anything.

After the play was done, Michael led the way out of the theatre and down the street. We stopped at a cart on the street and Michael bought us some ice cream. We started to weave our way through the crowd and ended up in a park. "How did you like the play?" He asked, taking a bite of his ice cream. I rolled my eyes and I saw Michael's eyebrows crinkle in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"I don't really like Peter Pan," I said curtly, hoping to leave it at that, but he continued to bother me. Finally I had enough of it and turned around quickly to face him. "Do you know anything about Peter Pan? He's a selfish, arrogant, ignorant little boy who thinks much too highly of himself and not of anyone else." I motioned to the statue of Peter Pan that we were standing near. "He also is often forgetting about the Lost Boys and the others, being mean and rude to them." I spoke with a passion and anger as it welled up inside me. Michael looked at me like I was crazy and then laughed.

"I think that you're the first person I've met who doesn't like Peter Pan." He laughed, taking another bit of ice cream. "Then are you on Hook's side?" he asked as we continued to walk through the gardens.

"Yes," I nodded, "he really isn't evil, and it's just that Pan brings out the worst in him. What if he would have been able to go have a wife and children and a real life? After all, he went to college and is a very classy and intelligent man."

"Alright, I have to admit that I don't know much about Hook." He shrugged, "How about we talk about something else? Like how beautiful you look in that dress and the way the moonlight plays on your hair." He reached up and touched my hair, gently moving it away from my face, his hand lingering on the base of my neck. I felt him stiffen and he took a step back as if embarrassed for his behavior as I blushed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

I smiled and shrugged it off as if nothing had happened. But I knew something had; something I couldn't explain. My heart had fluttered as his fingers had brushed my skin and it had felt like fire on my skin. After that, Michael ushered me home and left. There was barely a word spoken between us as he left in his car.


	12. Chapter 12

Notice: sorry for not updating for while! Musical and other things have made my life insanely busy! I don't know how many of you have read A Great and Terrible Beauty or the Inheritance Cycle, but I wanted to let any of you who have that I have started a forum for role-playing and other chatting for them. Right now we are in desperate need of more characters for the role-play since at the moment we have 2 students, a maid and a gypsy(AGTB) and none for the other. Hope you forgive me for being busy and come visit if you want.

Secret Vesper

Chapter 12

I sat up for hours, unsure of what to do about Michael. Finally I pulled out a piece of paper from the notebook in my room. I think I started the letter about five times before it finally made sense in my mind and on paper.

Dear Michael,

I had a wonderful time tonight at the play. It was truly something I had never experienced before and it was stunning. I would apologize to you in person, but as it seems that I will be leaving, on paper will have to do. I'm sorry about how I acted after the play. I'm not a fan of Peter Pan if you hadn't guessed. We just don't get along very well. I'm leaving tonight and won't be back to England. I hope you have a great and wonderful life.

Sincerely,

Crimmson Flynn Matthew

I had decided it would be best to leave. I had what I wanted and nothing was keeping me here. I took a shower, enjoying the hot water on my skin. How I would miss this. I loved being clean but it always took so much more time to heat up water and bring it to my cabin. I was really going to miss having warm water at my disposal at any time of day or night.

I waited until it was near midnight before packing my bags. I left a note on the front hall table for the landlady with the payment for my room and asking her to get my letter to Michael Kelly. I stepped out of the house and looked around for anyone before taking off into the sky.

The flight was about just as long back as the way there. I saw Neverland on the horizon and started to speed up. When I landed on the deck of my ship, the sky was just starting to color as the sun rose in the distance. Smee was on deck and soon I had a fairy buried in my hair. I laughed as Lil flitted around me, just happy that I was back. I led the way into my cabin and Smee sat down next to me with Lil still sitting on my shoulder, stroking my hair. Smee poured us both a brandy from where he was and handed it to me.

"So, did you have any success?" he said as he took a sip from the brandy. I nodded and pulled the picture out of my bag.

"Meet Mr. and Mrs. Matthew, James and Vale-Anne." I watched his face as he looked over the painting. Finally he realized who he was looking at and he handed the painting back to me.

"Are you sure?" He looked away, "I mean, he's your real father?"

I nodded, "Yeah, a librarian helped me track down the family in my journal. After we found the name, we also found that there was this picture and tracked down the family that owned it. Their son gave it to me." Smee smiled and raised his eyebrows in a knowing way. I shook my head, "It's not like that, we went to see a play, but that's all."

I could feel myself blushing slightly and quickly changed the subject. "So, what has been going on with Pan and the Lost Boys while I was gone?"

"Tootles has been asking after you, and Pan and the Boys have been tracking us. They found the ship about two days ago and have been keeping pretty close tabs on us." Smee said, and I nodded.

"Alright, well, I'm going to get some sleep and I'll go see them in the morning." I said standing up and placing my bag in the corner of my room. Smee nodded and took the brandy glasses, whipped them out before placing them on the shelf.

"Good night, I'll see you in the morning," he said as he closed the door behind him. I changed quickly and slid into bed, feeling the lull of the waves beneath me, rocking me to sleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke early in the morning, and got ready quickly. I slipped off the ship before any of the Lost Boys were watching and made my way to the woods. I made my way up to a pear tree and picked one for my breakfast.

I spent the morning wandering through the forest, enjoying everything about it. I had truly missed the sounds and sights of the forest while in London. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful city and I liked going there a lot, but it was nice to be back where I belonged. But no matter how much I tried, I couldn't help thinking about London and what had happened the night before. I hadn't meant to lose my temper with Michael, but he seemed to like Peter so much and I can't stand him at all! I mean, how someone could stand a person who likes the person that murdered their father.

I heard a rustling above me and quickly moved out from under the tree. It was just in time too, I saw Tootles drop right where I had been standing. I laughed as he stood and grinned at me. "Hello Tootles," I said with a smile. He grinned up at me and gave me a quick hug.

"Where have you been? Nobody's seen you for a long time!" His questions and comments came tumbling out so fast that I started to laugh.

"Relax Tootles," I said starting to walk, Tootles falling in next to me. "I just left and went back to the other world for a while; I had some questions that needed answering."

"Well Peter's been looking all over for you. We found the pirates ship, well actually the twins and Slightly found it. But we've been trailing them for a while, but we haven't seen the captain yet." He said in a rush as he led the way to the underground home. We slid down the slide and I soon found myself surrounded by tons of little boys. They all started talking at once and soon a fight broke out. I just laughed and sat back, it was pointless to try and stop them.

Soon there was a loud crowing and the fight immediately stopped. Pan flew into the underground home and laughed joyously. "Boys!" He yelled and his eyes fell on all of the boys crowded around me. "Isn't someone supposed to be watching the ship?" he asked, seeming angry. All of the boys stepped back except for Tootles who blushed and stepped forward.

"I was Peter, I'm sorry, but I saw Flynn and I was sure that everyone would want to see her." He said trying to explain, but Peter just seemed to get angrier.

"Peter, relax," I said standing up behind Tootles, my hands resting on his shoulders. "I wanted to come back and see you all and asked Tootles to come with me." His anger seemed to die away a little bit and then nodded.

"Then you should be punished, not Tootles, is that what you're saying?" He asked with a smirk. I gave a sarcastic smile.

"Do you really want to try that Peter?" I asked, challenging his arrogant attitude and smiled as the smirk fell slightly.

"I think that Flynn should tell us a story. She has been away for such a long time without a good reason and hasn't told us any stories for such a long time." The boys cheered and settled around me in a circle, each trying to get closer than the others. I moved over to a chair and sat, waiting until they had all settled down before speaking.

"What story would you like to here? Perhaps the Princess and the Pea? Or maybe Sleeping Beauty, I know how you all like that one." This time the story was Beauty and the Beast. I smiled as they started to act it out, like they always did. Tootles was, as always, the damsel in distress, with Nibs as the Beast and Peter as the handsome Gaston. He became very angry with me when he learned that Gaston was really the villain, but soon cheered up when I told of how handsome he was.

I was there for hours, telling the boys stories and some of the new ones that I had learned while in London, which they all loved. Their new favorite was one about a mermaid that wished to live on land with her prince. They cheered loudly when ever there was something exciting or even when something funny happened.


	13. Chapter 13

Notice: sorry for not updating for while! My life has been insanely busy! Hope you forgive me for being busy. Oh and sorry that it's a little short, the next one will be longer, at least, if it goes the way it is in my head then it should be…

Secret Vesper

Chapter 13

I sat on the deck of my ship, enjoying the sunset when I looked up quickly. I wanted to go back to the other world. I didn't want to be in Neverland right now, I wanted to be in the large city again. I missed the noise and the bustle that seemed everywhere I went. I loved walking out of there into the parks and hearing the silence.

I hopped off my ship and started into the woods. Maybe some time alone would clear my whirling thoughts. I entered the coolness of the woods and could feel my muscles relax slightly. I walked through the woods, enjoying the sounds of nature, although it wasn't quite what I wanted right then.

Suddenly I heard a noise off to my right and pumped slightly, pulling my dagger out. Tootles came bounding out of the forest and jumped on to my back. I laughed, seeing him and pulled him off of me.

"Tootles, what are you doing?" I asked as I set him down on the ground and sat next to him.

"Peter and the other boys are off looking for that pirate ship again and I'm bored." He said with a happy smile. I laughed slightly.

"Then what are you hoping to do here?" I asked with a smile.

"I don't know, you were gone for a long time, where'd you go?" he asked.

"To the real world," I said, "Trying to track down my parents," I leaned back against a tree. Tootles watched me closely. "I went to London, it was wonderful. Huge, bigger than Neverland with all sorts of things that you wouldn't believe ever existed. They have large buildings called stores where you can buy anything you ever wanted, if you have enough money. And then there are the parks, so large that you would never believe that you were in the middle of the city. There were also cars and trains and all sorts of machines that could take you anywhere you wanted. And the theatres, they show every type of show you could ever think of, making it so you think it were all real." I said thinking back.

Tootles sighed, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Really?" he asked excitedly, "All of those things and more?" I nodded and Tootles looked up into the sky, "I wish I could go there," he said. I could hear the longing in his voice and I smiled.

"Do you want to go?" I asked, looking over at him with a smile. Tootles nodded excitedly and smiled like a child opening the best present in the world. I stood, "Alright, then go back to the house underground and pack up a few things, meet me back here in an hour." I said with a smile. Tootles got up quickly, and nodded before disappearing into the woods. I smiled and headed back to the ship. Lilith saw me and flew around me.

"Hey Lil," I said, "Sorry, but I'm heading back to the real world for a little bit," I said, seeing her wings fall in disappointment. "But this time you can come," I smiled as she chimed happily. "And Tootles will be joining us; he wants to see the real world." I walked across the deck and back into my cabin. I began to gather the clothes I had bought in London and some more gold and things that I could sell again for money.

Once I had everything I needed I sat down and wrote a letter to Smee, telling him that Lil, Tootles and I were leaving for a bit and would be back soon. I sealed the letter and left it for him on my desk, knowing that he would find it when he brought my dinner in. I stood and grabbed my bag before leaving the ship and heading into the woods. Lil flew next to me and we soon were at the clearing where we were to meet Tootles.

Tootles was waiting up in a tree for us. He smiled and waved as we came into view, it was one of those things that you couldn't help but smile back. Lil flew up to him, circling him and tickling his sides, causing Tootles to giggle. I chuckled to myself and smiled at the two.

"Ready to go?" I asked, as Lil backed away and let Tootles jump down to the ground. Tootles nodded excitedly, almost bouncing at how happy he was.

"Alright, Lil, if you would?" Lil nodded and began to fly around us, coating our skin in fairy dust. Tootles and I both rose effortlessly into the air and began to fly around, Lil weaving her way in and out of us.

I led the way out of Neverland, over the forest, the beach, the lagoon and Father's old ship that was anchored in a cove. We broke out of Neverland and started for London again. I was ready for the resistance this time and helped Tootles through. Soon we were both hurtling across the London sky. I directed our path to the park again and we landed carefully in the cover of trees and bushes. Tootles and I quickly brushed off and headed for the second hand clothing store that I had gotten my clothes in to get Tootles something a little more inconspicuous.

The second hand shop woman smiled as she saw us come in. "Thought I would see you again, but who's this?" She asked as Tootles hid behind me.

"A friend, his names Tootles," I said as Tootles came out a little bit. "We need to get him some clothes.

The woman nodded, "Of course you do, don't worry, I'll have you looking just like a gentleman in a few minutes." She said motioning for us to follow her back where she kept her children's clothes. It didn't take too long for Tootles to have a stack of clothes in his hands and was being shoved into a dressing room. After trying on a few dozen outfits, we finally settled on a few pairs of pants and some shirts that would last the few days we would be here. I paid quickly and nodded to the woman as we left.

"Alright, let's get a room and then we can go out exploring," I said with a smile. Tootles cheered, but stayed near me with all of the people around us. I led the way to the boarding house that I had stayed in last time. The land lady still had the room I had used open and immediately took Tootles to the kitchen to give him cookies as I went upstairs to unpack our bags.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Tootles and I walked through the city, taking in the sights. Tootles was in complete awe at everything around us. I ended up taking him to a park. It was large and filled with all sorts of things that were wonderful for Tootles to explore. During our walk through the park, I bought our lunch from a street cart. I settled down to eat as Tootles stuffed his face and ran off to go explore around the part of the park we were in.

"Miss Matthews?" I heard behind me and I turned, few people in this strange world knew whom I was and my heart sank slightly as I thought I recognized the voice. "Crimmson, I thought that was you."

Of course, the person behind me just had to be Michael Kelly. He looked the same since I had last seen him, of course that day I hadn't been very happy for him since he was sticking up for my worst enemy at the time. However, his sandy hair was still the same, if not a little messy and his grey eyes had lost a bit of their sparkle, but as our eyes met, he smiled, causing his eyes to crinkle slightly.

"Hello Michael," I said in a slightly business like manner. I couldn't help smile at his charming grin that he had given me the first time we had met.

"Crimmson, I-I" he seemed a little unsure of how he wanted to say what he was trying to say. I motioned for him to continue. He straightened his jacket and took a breath before continuing. "I wanted to apologize, for my behavior when we went to the theatre. I hadn't meant to say anything that would upset you." I nodded silently at what he said, unsure how to respond. "I-I was worried that you would never come back and I truly had a wonderful time with you, until… well until we had our little disagreement."

I smiled slightly; a disagreement to him had been more like something that would cause a war for me. "I had a nice time with you too," I said slowly, "I just had to go home to take care of a few things." Tootles looked back at me at that moment and waved from where he was in a tree. I smiled and waved back as he flipped down, his small body agile from all his years in Neverland.

"Is that one of the things you had to take care of?" Michael asked, sitting down next to me on the bench. I shook my head, my hair swinging in its horsetail.

"No, that is a friend of mine, his name is Tootles." I said, "He wanted to come see this part of the world, so I brought him with me." Michael looked at me before flashing a quick grin.

"Tootles you say?" he smiled again, "I thought you didn't like Peter Pan."

"I don't like Peter Pan, but I never said anything about the boys. Most of them a quite cocky like Pan, but Tootles," I paused for a moment thinking of the best way to put this. "He isn't like the rest, he's sweet and humbler and very kind."

Michael laughed his voice deep in his chest. "You sure are interested in the whole story of Neverland." He said with a smile and I stiffened slightly before I stood.

"We should probably be going. It was nice to see you again Michael." I said brushing myself off and turning to walk away. I had only gotten about three steps when Michael caught hold of my arm. I pulled it away easily, much to his surprise and he didn't grab me again.

"Crimmson, please, I would like to see you again," he said, "there's something interesting about you and I want to know what it is." I tensed slightly. So there was the truth of it, he didn't think of me as a friend, he thought of me as some science project or problem that he wanted to solve. "I've upset you again, haven't I?" he said as he saw my back straighten and the proud tilt of my chin. "Please, there's just something about you; I want to get to know you and spend more time with you." He said, "How about you come out with me for dinner tonight?"

I looked at him, "What about Tootles?" I asked and he smiled.

"Of course he can come too, I know a nice little dinner that we could go to not too far from your place. That is, if you're staying at the same apartment." I nodded, "Well then how about I come pick you up about 6 then?"

I paused for a moment, thinking over everything that could come of us going out again. Finally I nodded, and Michael smiled.

"Great, I'll see you at six, and don't worry there's no need to dress up, it's just a little family owned restaurant." He said as he straightened his jacket a little. I nodded and smiled slightly before looking over at Tootles and giving a sharp whistle. He dropped down from the tree, landing on all fours and ran over to me.

"Are we going now, Flynn?" he asked and I nodded.

"Why don't you go grab your coat, we don't want to forget that." I chided him slightly. He smiled and ran off to go get it. Michael looked at me.

"Flynn?" he asked, his eyebrows rose slightly in a questioning way.

"That is the only name he knows me by," I said, "If it wouldn't be too much trouble…"

Michael smiled, "To call you Flynn?" he finished for me, "I like it; it fits you." He smiled, "I'll see you and your friend tonight." He nodded to me and smiled again before he turned and left. Tootles came back a bit later and we started back home.

Tootles and I relaxed that afternoon. He ended up taking a nap since we had been up so late the night before. This gave me some silent time to think and I ended up getting up and going to the library for a little bit. I had learned the last time that I could take books out for free and there were all sorts of things in there. I ended up finding quite a few different books that I was able to check out and headed back to the apartment. We had a nice window that I pulled a chair up to and started to read.

It was nearing 4 o'clock when Tootles woke up. He took a shower, after much persuasion, before changing into a clean pair of pants and shirt that I had laid out for him and ironed. That was a skill I was very happy to master with the new irons that were used here, although pirates don't really iron much, so it didn't matter to me.

I took a shower when Tootles was done and slipped on a pair of brown pants and a blue sweater. I put some make-up on and tamed my hair back into a clip. I smiled at myself in the mirror and fixed my necklace when I heard a knock at the door. I opened it and found Michael standing there.

"Good evening," I said as I stepped back from the door to let him in. "I just need to get my shoes and find where Tootles went. Make yourself at home." I said as I slipped out of the room. I came back after a few minutes, Tootles following me and he walked right up to Michael.

"Hi!" he said with a smile that was purely Tootles, "I'm Tootles." He introduced himself. Michael smiled and stuck his hand out to shake Tootles hand, which took him a minute to figure out what he was doing.

"Nice to meet you Tootles, I'm Michael." Tootles and Michael let go of each other's hands and Tootles looked at him excitedly. "I knew a Michael, he and his brother and sister came to live with us for a while, but then they went back home." He said a hint of sadness in his voice. I grabbed my purse and put my hand on his shoulder with a smile.

"Come on, why don't we go get something to eat now," I said, knowing that would instantly cheer Tootles up. "I'm famished." Tootles nodded and Michael smiled.

"Off we go then," he said with a grin, opening the door for me as we left, Tootles walking between us as we headed to the dinner.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

After we had eaten, we went home. Tootles went back to bed and was soon asleep. We had made plans to meet Michael in the morning to show us around town. I hadn't really been able to go sight-seeing when I was here before and that was the whole reason Tootles had wanted to come.

Michael arrived early in the morning, while Tootles as still getting dressed and I was just finishing pulling my hair back. Always early he was… it was nice, but it was also a problem when you were trying to get ready. We left soon afterwards and got breakfast at a little café.

We walked around town all that morning. Michael pointed things out to Tootles, who smiled the whole time. I have to say that Michael was very good with kids and seemed to love answering all of Tootles questions. I had to say that I thought Michael would be a great father someday, I don't know why I thought of that, but I did as I watched him lean down closer to Tootles to point something out.

We went everywhere and ate out, Michael's treat, for both lunch and dinner. It was later when we got home and Tootles went to bed since he was falling asleep on his feet. I invited Michael to stay for a bit and he did. We sat out in the living room, both of us with a cup of tea. Michael leaned back in his chair; he seemed completely at ease with himself as he looked at me.

"Alright Miss Matthew," he said, "There is something I've been trying to figure out about you." He regarded me carefully and I watched him. "Where are you from? You're not American, or from anywhere else since you don't have an accent. However, you don't know anything about England, so you can't be from here. You speak like you are from far away and have a slight older lilt to your voice, like you are from a completely different time period."

I waited for him to stop but he continued. "You often speak as if you know the characters from Peter Pan, but that's not possible since none of that is real." He said looking at me. I bit my lip for a moment before looking at him.

"Are you sure?" he looked at me as if I was nuts when I asked that. "Are you sure that it's not true?" I asked again. He paused and looked at me, leaning forward; I had his attention and interest.

"What do you mean?" He said, "You can't possibly think that it's all true." I looked at him, not answering him at all. "Then let me come with you, to meet your family." He said, straightening from where he had been resting his arms on his knees.

To put it plainly, I was shocked. I had never thought of anything like that before and I didn't know if I could trust him to not freak out. "You know that I don't have any family, I'm an orphan." I said, but Michael shook his head.

"I want to see where you live and what you do," he said and I sighed.

"You're going to think I'm nuts, but okay, we leave an hour before day break." I said, "which means getting some sleep." I stood and moved to my room before throwing a blanket at him, "I'll wake you up before we leave." I said and closed the door.

I woke Tootles up early, while it was still dark. The clock on the radio was reading 3 a.m. as he looked up at him in a drowsy fashion, his eyes half closed. He tried to turn over and go back to sleep but I held him firm.

"Tootles," I said, "Come on, we're going. Peter will be wondering where you've gone." I said, knowing it was completely untrue. "Lil, can you keep him awake?" I asked as Lilith came out and smiled as she began to pull wickedly on his ear. I smiled and headed out into the living room. Michael was sleeping on the couch where I had left him. I moved silently over to him and shook him gently.

"Michael, come on, we're getting up." I said as I shook him. He turned onto his back and opened his eyes, looking right up at me.

"Five more minutes?" he asked with a grin.

"No," I said, "I'm afraid not or someone will notice us." I backed away from him as he sat up and swung his legs over so he was sitting on the couch.

"It was a joke," he said. I looked at him, confused at what he was talking about. "Don't tell me you never begged for five more minutes as a kid." He said looking at him.

I shook my head, "No, I got up when I was told to." I said, "You have to always set a good example." Michael looked at him before he stood up, shaking his head and chuckling to himself.

"I swear, sometimes I think you're from a completely different world from the rest of us." he said.

"You have no idea…" I muttered, "Alright, dressed and ready as soon as possible." I said heading back into my room and pulling on a pair of jeans, my leather jacket and boots. Tootles was finally up and getting dressed, being "encouraged" by Lil so that he didn't go back to sleep. Soon everyone was dressed and ready. Michael helped Tootles downstairs and carried both of our small bags.

I wrote a quick note to the landlady again. I thanked her for the room and left money with the note before I led the way outside. "Alright babe, you can come out." I said opening my bag slightly.

Lil came out and relished being out in the night air again. I smiled, "Come on Lil, we've got to get going if we're going to cross before day break." I said and Lil nodded her head. She circled us quickly, coating out skin in fairy dust. Michael was watching this all happening with silent fascination.

"Is that? Did you? And she?" he started to stutter, unable to finish a complete thought. I couldn't help but laugh slightly.

"Yes, yes and yes." I said, "Now off we go." I rose effortlessly into the air, Tootles following suit and heading into the sky, Lilith following him closely.

"Come on," I held my hand out for Michael. After a moment, he tentatively took it and was following me.

"Whoa…" he exclaimed, amazed at what was going on. We rose over rooftops and up into the stars. "This has to be a dream." He said looking over at me. I grinned and pulled him higher and higher into the sky until I felt the resistance against us. Tootles was already fighting against the wall and Lil was helping him.

"Come on," I said, "we're going to have to break through." I said, moving steadily, Tootles following me while I kept a hold of Michael's hand. We finally made it through and Neverland rose up before us. Michael gasped as he saw it.

"I must be dreaming," he muttered, "this can't be real." I looked over at him and smiled as I led our way to the small clearing and we all landed. Tootles came up to me and gave me a hug.

"That was fun," he said with a huge grin. I smiled and hugged him back.

"Yes it was, I'm glad you enjoyed it." I said ruffling his hair. "Alright, you better get back to Peter. I'll see you guys soon." Tootles smiled and hurried off into the woods. I turned back to Michael, "Are you okay?" I asked, noticing the shocked look on his face.

"It's all real, isn't it?" he asked, "No this can't be, it goes against all logic." He said looking around.

I smiled, "Come on, you're tired, let's go back to my place and you can get some sleep." I said leading him to my ship and climbing aboard. None of the crew was up yet so I took him into my cabin and then into my backroom where I slept. "Good night," I said softly as he climbed wearily into bed. I grabbed some of my clothes and changed before sitting down at my desk and started to look through some of my papers.

Smee came in early and smiled at me, "I thought I heard you come in, your breakfast will ready soon." He said coming over to the desk. I smiled as he sat down in the chair across from me.

"How did everything go?" I asked and he shrugged.

"You weren't gone long, not much time for the boys to get into trouble." He said. "Over all it went pretty well. The mermaids came over again looking to speak to you, but I told them that you were away. I'm sure Pan knows by now and I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to take this chance to find us again, or just forgets about us." he said as a cabin boy brought in my breakfast. I nodded to him and poured myself and Smee a cup of tea. He nodded his thanks as he took it.

"So over all it went well," I said with a nod, "Oh, and Smee, I brought a friend back with me, he's sleeping in my cabin right now, but if a man, about 20 years in age, maybe less with blonde hair dressed oddly comes out, just find me."

Smee nodded, "Of course, and where has Lilith gone?" he asked. I looked around and shrugged.

"I have no idea," I said, finishing my breakfast and standing up, "But I'm sure she'll turn up. I think I'll go for a walk and see the mermaids, perhaps they had something important to say to me." I looked down at what I was wearing, "But I'm definitely changing first." I smiled as I stepped into my room, praying that Michael wouldn't wake up while I changed into my good coat, pulled my hair back and stuck my hat on my head. I glanced in the mirror and nodded at my appearance as I strapped my sword and my dagger on before heading out to the lagoon to find the mermaids.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

When I arrived back at the ship, it was nearing late afternoon. The mermaids had just been checking in on me, wanting to know what was going on. It was nice to know that everything I told they would get back to Peter. They often said their loyalty was to themselves only, but almost anyone with common sense knew that the mermaids loved Peter and would always choose him first over the Indians, the Pirates and even the Lost Boys, who there had been rumors that some had been lost to the sea women before.

Once back aboard the ship, I headed for my cabin, wanting to change out of my formal clothes and into something cooler. I was entered my cabin, making my way to my sleeping chambers. I closed the door behind me shedding my jacket and hat when I saw Michael before me, his jaw dropped.

"Good morning," I greeted him, hanging my hat and jacket up. Perhaps if I didn't say anything about London he wouldn't bring it up. I had noticed it many times before. The longer people stayed in Neverland, the less they remembered about their lives in the real world. Unfortunately, it didn't work that fast.

"What are you doing?" he asked, looking at the bright red hat and jacket, "You look like a female version of Captain Hook," he said in astonishment. I looked up at him, now I would have normally taken this as a compliment, but since I had heard how the people of the real world behaved, it seemed that sometimes they said one thing with their lips and another with their tone or eyes.

"I just came back from a meeting," I said, grabbing my clothes and stepping behind the dressing screen in my room. I quickly changed out of the nice breeches, boots and shirt into my more comfortable cotton clothes. I stepped out changed and pulled my suede boots on. "There are some clothes right there that I think you will fit in," I said, "I got them from one of the crew members that looked about your size." I said, "And there are some boots." I nodded to a chair that had a set of clothes sitting on it and a pair of boots under it.

Michael looked confused, "Are we in some kind of play acting thing?" he asked, "Like historical or something?" I just shook my head and sighed slightly to myself as I pointed to the screen. Michael picked up the clothes and soon stepped out fully changed. I had to say, I wasn't expecting it, but he looked nice in the regular pirate get up.

"Alright Miss Crimmson," he said sitting down and pulling the boots on. I looked at him through the mirror that I was checking my reflection in as I braided my hair. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?" he asked.

"Just a moment," I said as I tied off my braid and stood up, sticking one of my regular hats on and motioning for him to follow me out of my room.

The moment we were into my cabin Smee practically jumped on us. "There you are Crimmson, I take it the meeting with the mers went well?" he asked.

I nodded, "Yes, they just wanted to check in on us. I apologized for not being here and told them that I had been away on a personal matter." I said, strapping my dagger around my waist. Smee smiled and nodded. "Oh, and this is Michael, a friend from London," I motioned to Michael who smiled at Smee and stuck his hand out. "Michael, this is Smee, my first mate and my father's boson." I introduced the two and grinned slightly when Smee only nodded in return.

Michael seemed a little out unsure of what he should do then and lowered his hand slowly. "Anything you want, dear?" he asked and I paused, "Two brandies," I said. Smee nodded and grabbed two glasses before taking the key and unlocking my private store and bringing out a bottle of brandy and bringing it over to us.

"Anything else?" he asked, I shook my head.

"No, but we're going to need to move." I said, "How about 10 leagues, just outside of the delta." I suggested. Smee nodded and grinned.

"I'll get them right to that," he nodded shortly to Michael and smiled at me before he left.

"Thank you Smee!" I called after him as he shut the door. I sat down in my chair behind my desk and motioned for Michael to sit, which he did.

"Alright, spill," he said as I grabbed the two glasses and the brandy decanter. I smiled slightly as I poured two glasses of brandy, handing one to him and setting the decanter back on my desk.

"You already know everything, you know it in your heart, now just accept it." I said, leaning back in my chair, propping my feet up on my desk. Michael was shaking his head at me.

"No, what I'm thinking isn't possible. Neverland isn't real, you've done some outrageous thing and brought me here so that I think I'm in Neverland, even getting a guy to play Smee, and you're little friend, Tootles. Nice touch, but where are we, seriously?" he asked.

"In Neverland," I said simply. "That's the real Smee, and the real Tootles, and I am Crimmson Flynn Matthew Hook," I said, "Daughter of Captain James Matthew Hook, Captain of this ship, the Midnight Star."

Michael was shaking his head, "No, this isn't possible," he said, "You're an orphan, you told me so yourself."

"I thought so," I said, nodding, "I truly did when I met you, James Hook was my father, I grew up with him, but as an adopted father, he refused to tell me who my real father was." I said, sipping my brandy. Michael took a large gulp of his and I smiled slightly.

"You shouldn't be drinking," he said, eyeing my drink.

I shrugged, "Its different here than in the real world. Most of us have been drinking something since we were barely out of the cradle." I said, and smiled slightly, "You still don't believe me. Come on," I said, pulling my hat to shield my face as we headed out to the deck. Michael followed me closely as we stepped out onto the deck and looked around.

His eyes widened slightly as he looked around, "This can't be real," he said, "I have to be dreaming this, I have to be." He said to himself over and over, repeating it religiously like a prayer. I laughed slightly, which brought him out of his thoughts.

"No, it's all real," I responded, "Come, you can look around the ship and then I can give you a tour of Neverland." I said as I took his hand and led him through the ship.

He seemed to be in general shock as I showed him my ship. When we were done there; I took him ashore and showed him around Neverland. No matter what I showed him, or how much of it he saw, he seemed in a sort of disbelief stage.

It was nearing late afternoon when we started heading back to the ship. We were almost there, perhaps about a twenty minute walk, when there was a loud crow. I sighed but put on a smile as Michael looked over at me.

"Oh, so we get to meet the Peter Pan now?" He asked me and I sighed, not letting me smile fall.

"Unfortunately," I muttered as Peter shot out of the trees towards us.

"Flynn! Where have you been?" he asked, "The boys have been absolutely dreadful and are demanding more stories."

I sighed, "Then tell them some," I said logically.

"But you're the mother~" My glare made him stop short on the word. "But you're supposed to be the story teller."

"Well this story teller's been out of Neverland."

Peter raised his eyebrows, "Why?" he asked shortly and suspiciously.

"Because I had business to attend to." I said simply. Of course, it would be at this moment that Michael chose to speak up.

"She's been with me." He said.

"And you are?" Peter asked, turning his attention to Michael for the first time, his eyes looking him over up and down.

"I am Michael Kelly." He said, sticking his hand out. Peter looked at the hand before turning his attention back to me.

"What is he doing here?"

"I brought him from London. He wanted to see where I live."

The impish boy raised a suspicious eyebrow before nodding. "Come tell us stories," he demanded as he floated into the air again.

"I will when I have time," I countered, gaining a stubborn glare as the boy who never grew up flew off.


End file.
